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Trade union campaigners said the high minimum wage would have helped lower paid workerscope with the high cost of living in Switzerland.

However, Johann Schneider-Ammann, the country’s economics minister, welcomed the result, saying the alternative would have meant job losses.

“Work is the best antidote to poverty,” he said.

Meanwhile the Swiss employers organisation said that it was not seeking to defend low pay, but that wages should be “realistic and flexible”. This was the third time that Swiss voters had rejected moves to set a minimum wage in the country.

However last year voters did back a move to curb pay packages enjoyed by “fat cat” top managers.